March 2014

03/31/2014

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana – Watching Julius Randle do whatever he wants on a basketball floor it is hard to believe that coming out of high school one of the knocks on his game was that he was not assertive enough.

Given the fact he was the best player on whatever floor he ever walked on, it is not hard to fathom there were stretches of time during games when Randle simply did not want to be assertive in an effort to involve his teammates.

Most good players hate the “selfish” tag, especially in high school, and don’t want to alienate their best friends. So they let them shoot.

As a true freshman at Kentucky, Assertion is not his problem - he is a double-double machine. He averaged better than 15 and 10 this season.

On Sunday, after UK defeated Michigan in the Elite 8, Randle was named the Midwest Region’s Most Outstanding Player.

Randle will play in the Final Four not too far from where he grew up, and attended high school

"I'm coming home to my mom. We get to play in the Final Four in my hometown. And the biggest thing is it's not about that,” Randle said Sunday in the post-game press conference. “I'm just happy and proud of all my teammates. And it will be a great experience for us.”

Right now, according to the very scientific NBADraft.net, Randle is projected to be selected eighth overall in the June draft. That is behind Jabari Parker, Joel Embiid, Andrew Wiggins, Marcus Smart, Kyle Anderson, Noah Vonleh and Dante Exum.

Something called DraftExpress has Randle going fourth.

While the rest of the top picks look to have a potentially greater upside, Randle looks to be the safest selection.

At 6-foot-9, he can already take defenders to the basket with a hard dribble drive and spin back to the middle; what is lacking, naturally, is a consistent 15 to 17-foot shot. He needs some sembalnce of a mid-range, or perimeter, game. That will come with practice. He has the makings of a nastier Chris Bosh, and more refined David West.

If Randle goes to the right team, he could easily be the NBA’s Rookie of the Year next season.

His ceiling may not be as high as Embiid, Wiggins or Parker, but it’s hard not to envision Randle as a 10 to 13-year pro who eventually averages double-double and is an All-Star.

03/28/2014

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana - It's an impossible job, but anyone who has ever decided to become a ref' realizes this reality. They cannot win, nor are they in the business of winning. They are there merely to make sure whomever does win did it clean.

The final seconds of the Tennessee-Michigan Sweet 16 NCAA Midwest Regional game once again brought to light the role of officiating, and whether the end of the game should determine whether "it's a foul."

With a little less than 10 seconds remaining and the Volunteers trailing by one point, forward Jarnell Stokes tried to back down Michigan's Jordan Morgan. Morgan looked like he beat Stokes to the spot, was set, and Stokes barreled over him. Referee David Hall made the call - offensive foul, turnover - and Michigan held on to win by two points to advance to the Elite 8.

I asked Stokes whether he thought he fouled Morgan. No real shock here:

"I don’t think I fouled him, but it was a smart play for him to try to take the charge,” Stokes said. “He pretty much anticipated it.”

And, surprise, Morgan thought he was in the right place at the right time.

“I know he likes to play bully ball. I like to take charges. It’s what I do,” he said.

Replays showed it looked Hall made the correct call.

The part you hate is that a ref' was in the middle of a play that directly impacted the final score, thus interfering with the sacred, "Let the players decide the game."

In fairness to the ref', it's a play that likely would have been called a foul at any other point in the game. If it's going to be called 10 seconds into the game, it has to be called with 10 seconds remaining in the game.

As a distinguished undergraduate of the University of Kansas, class of very recently, it comes with great sports disgust to have to interview former University of Missouri Junior College basketball coach Norm Stewart.

How are you today: I'm good. I had (cancer) in 1989, and that's been 25 years.

How did Coaches vs. Cancer start? A person had an idea. His name is Jerry Quick; he was with the American Cancer Society. He is a former basketball player and he came to me and said, 'I have an idea. I need somebody with visibility and start a 3-point program.' So we gave money for every 3-point shot the team makes.My mother had died of cancer. I was coming off having it. So we did that and in a couple of months we raised about $300,000. And the amazing part is no one gets paid. All the coaches who serve do in their own time and in their own way.

Is this your legacy or coaching players? They are different. I hope this has a better legacy because I do want to find a cure. They are getting better; the death rates are going down. This is the way people should see a coach - not as someone who is out on the floor and yelling at players, but for doing something who cares about humanity.

What do you remember about your own cancer diagnosis? They told me it was malignant. I go on percentages, so I asked my doctor, 'What do I need to do to get into the right (percentage)?' I had to see psychiatrist and he asked me if I was thinking about dying. I said, 'No. I'm thinking about living.' It does bring your mortality into effect and you do examine everything.

Did it change your behavior? It did for a while. Eventually, I did continue my same patterns.

Miss coaching at all? I think everybody has to choose a time and that’s what I did. Since I made that decision I didn’t look back and I haven’t. I could have coached longer but I didn’t see a necessity. Maybe I would leave a different way. One thing that happened is that a person lost an opportunity who deserved (the Missouri job). I could have created it for that individual. The thing I did miss was practies. That was the classroom. I liked practice.

The way the sport is today, would you want to coach it? I never did coach high school basketball. I had a wonderful high school coach. He had more influence on me than my parents. I admired the high school coach and still do but I think they are the craziest group of all – they have no support. None. And a teacher today has no support.

Do you follow the tournament today? Where is my (bracket?) My family and the grandkids are with me, and I have a grandson who always wins. He pays attention. I'm third or fourth.

Was it true that you never spent a dime in the state of Kansas? Oh, no. My wife's address is in Kansas. Two or three years ago, we went to Kansas City to watch our grandsons play football. Our daughter flew in and she lost her wallet and cell phone. It wound up in Lawrence. I had to call a good friend in Lawrence, and the police chief, and they eventualy got it.I eventually called (Kansas head coach) Bill Self, and he picked it up. He said, 'Norm, for somebody who wouldn't spend a dime in Kansas you have a lot of people who work for you.'"

03/27/2014

DALLAS, Texas - With little or no other marketable skills beyond an amazing amount of God-given brawn, the only thing I have to offer is an award-winning head of hair; it is said to be a coif so magical it makes the Angels cry.

03/25/2014

A Personal Apology/Thank You Letter From Dick Vitale - I'll take Things I Never Expected (Or Needed) In My Lifetime For $50,000 Alex.

Twenty years ago I met Dick Vitale ( @DickieV ) as a teenager, and he pretty much blew me off both times. Or I thought he did. It forever changed the way I saw him. Twenty years later, I understand celebs like Dick Vitale are pulled in 50,000 directions by everybody, and there is no way for people in his position to accomodate everybody.

Vitale mailed me a copy of one of his books to my mailbox at the paper, as well as some other material concerning his foundation. I nearly threw it all away before my boss said - "Maybe he signed it."

He did. Vitale wrote, "Mac You Are Awesome Baby. Dick Vitale HOF 08"

A very nice, thoughtful gesture. I nearly threw away the rest of the material before it dawned on me, after looking at the handwriting from the envelope, Vitale personally put this package together.

In this envelope inluded a personal letter:

"Mac: Great talking with you. So sorry about years ago as trust me it was not done intentionally. I try to be cordial to everyone & I do love meeting the fans.Had fun battling Joel (ha! ha!) - Thanks & God Bless Dickie VHOF 08"

This is an absolute first in my long and storied career.

Vitale certainly did not need to do this, as any butt-hurt feelings were long ago replaced by realizing he's busy, and that everybody wants his time.

He said: "I think the NFL is 10 years away from an implosion. When pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. And they’re getting hoggy. When you try to take it too far, people turn the other way. I’m just telling you, when you got a good thing and you get greedy, it always, always, always, always, always turns against you.”

Perhaps if he continues with providing fun material for sports columnists, and sports radio hosts - thank you for said material - no one will notice that his primary toy is increasingly irrelevant. Mark Cuban has become Jerry Jones - he is more entertaining than his team, only with far fewer followers in a league that is not as popular.

The Mavs are 42-29, and are limping towards the finish-line of a season where they will likely make the playoffs, and then be promptly kicked out. The guy is a good sports owner, but he seems like he is the film director that believes his own BS. Not only can no one tell him he is wrong, but he won't listen.

Cuban's point about the NFL growing greedy is only a wee-bit laughable coming from a sports owner in a league that charges $100 a ticket to a regular-season featuring 41 regular season home games.

Cuban's point about businesses that over-reach and get greedy is dead on; it happened to the MLB, NBA, NHL and NASCAR. Too much of its own product has rendered many regular-season events in a fiercely competitive market to junk-bond status.

The NFL's model of only 16 regular season games, whether the game is played on Thursday, Sunday or Monday, has not threatened dilution. A restructured TV contract to include Thursday night games on CBS is not going to make a pro football game any more, or less, meaningful than it is already. There are only 16 of these, not 38 (NASCAR), 82 (NHL, NBA) or 162 (MLB).

Once the league begins to add more regular season games, and more playoff games, that's when you know they have gone from a pig to a hog.

This is the perfect chance to do something the Internet lacks - ranking Arnold's best action movies.

12. End of Days (1999)Fell asleep.

11. Collateral Damage (2002)Arnold's family is killed in a terrorist act, and Arnold the firefighter gets his revenge.

10. Red Heat (1988)Arnold is a Soviet cop sent to Chicago to bring back a ruthless drug dealer. He pairs up with an unfunny Jim Belushi to run around Chicago shooting people. A few, cool shootouts done by director Walter Hill, and Arnold was in his steroidial prime.

9. The Expendables 2 (2012) In Sly Stallone's ode to aging action figures, Arnold is pretty good in this surprisingly entertaining stupid movie.

8. Commando (1985)This was Arnold's turn in a Rambo role where he is the good guy. His daughter (Alyssa Milano) is kidnapped, and he takes them all on. Watch closely the climax where Arnold is holding a giant gun that never, ever runs out of bullets.

7. The Running Man (1987)Richard Dawson steals a movie that was actually way ahead of its time. Arnold is Ben Richards, who is thrown on a reality TV game show to avoid death and prove to the world he was innocent all along.

6. Raw Deal (1986) Loved this tale of Arnold taking on the Chicago mob. An ousted FBI agent turned small-town sheriff, Arnold goes it alone to take on the mobsters who killed the son of a close friend. In the finale, Arnold takes on no less than 70 armed mobsters, and nails 'em all.

5. Predator (1987)Arnold is Dutch, a special forces leader assigned to the worst places on earth, whose team only works alone. Along with Apollo Creed, Arnold's team is sent to a remote jungle to find this alien thing that kills for sport. The Carl Weathers' death scene is immortal, and this film also gave us winners such as, "We're all gonna' die", and "Get to the choppa!"This cast featured two future state governors, and arguably the best trailer of Arnold's career:

4. Eraser (1996)Arnold is a US marshall who ... does something. Shoots people. James Caan is good as the bad guy, and Arnold and Vanessa Williams do their best to save the best for last.

3. True Lies (1990) Arnold in a James Bond-like role as a secret agent who is so secret his wife and kids are unaware of his real job. Jamie Lee Curtis steals the film that features some fun action scenes and stunts.

2. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)By this point in his career, Arnold was obviously PR savvy enough to know to shy away from bad guy roles, such as the original Terminator. Here he played the "good Terminator" who tried to protect John Connor from "the bad Terminator." Great action scenes, slick and suspenseful.

Jan. 15, 2014 - Starting pitcher Derek Holland trips over his dog, Wrigley, and as a result has micro fracture surgery on his knee. He says he will be back in June. The team is saying after the All-Star break. My guess is that he is out for the year, but he is pushing hard to come back so ...

February 14, 2014 - Pitcher Joseph Ortiz has a fractured left foot, and is currently on the disabled list.

February, 2014 - Starting pitcher Matt Harrison, who made two starts in 2013, had two back surgeries in 2013 as well as thoracic outlet sydnrome. He came to camp healthy, but his return has been delayed by stiffness in his back. He will start the season on the disabled list. The team is hoping for an April return

March 19, 2014 - Starting shortstop Elvis Andrus reported tightness in his right elbow, which MRI results showed negative. He should be able to play on Opening Day.

March 22, 2014 - Ace starting pitcher Yu Darvish has reported neck stiffness, and may miss his scheduled Opening Day start against the Phillies. He is now doubtful to make that start.

March 23, 2014 - The Rangers say second baseman Jurickson Profar has suffered a torn teres major muscle in his right shoulder and will miss the first three months of the season.

March 24, 2014 - Catcher Geovany Soto has a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee and will miss 10 weeks.Also, minor league prospect Engel Beltre has a fracture in his right tibia and will start the season on the disabled list.

You don't have to believe in any Nolan Ryan Curse to know the Rangers need help.